We at Science-Based Medicine are pleased to announce the recruitment of yet another blogger to add to the discussion of the scientific basis of medicine. We’re especially pleased because he will help us address questions that we were not particularly well-equipped to address before his joining us. So, please welcome to the SBM fold David Ramey, DVM, who will be discussing science- and evidence-based veterinary medicine.

David Ramey, DVM, is a 1983 graduate of Colorado State University. After completing an internship in equine medicine and surgery at Iowa State University, he entered private equine practice in southern California. Dr. Ramey is an author of numerous books on equine health care, and a prominent voice for the application of evidence-based standards to veterinary medicine. He was a member of the task for on “Therapeutic Options” of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, as well as a member of the task force that wrote the current guidelines for the use of “Complementary and Alternative” veterinary medicine for the American Veterinary Association. He has published numerous articles and books pertaining to “alternative” approaches to veterinary medicine, including the 2004 Complementary and Alternative Veterinary Medicine Considered, co-authored with world renowned veterinary ethicist Dr. Bernard Rollin.

We get a fair number of questions about the use of “alternative” medical practices such as homeopathy and acupuncture on animals, particularly from people who ask us how they can appear to work on animals when animals supposedly don’t exhibit placebo effects. Dr. Ramey will be of great value in discussing such issues. Unfortunately, he will only be able to contribute posts around once a month or so. Fortunately, his first post will appear tomorrow. Don’t miss it.

Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.

—- Mark Twain

I use a Mac, so I know I think different. I also coexist on an alternative parallel world where people live on the same planet as me, but have such a radically different way of thinking that I wonder if we have the same ability to evaluate reality (1).

The best example of different ways of seeing the same thing is homeopathy. Homeopathy is utterly and completely ridiculous with zero plausibility or efficacy. Only therapeutic touch is its rival. Yet homeopath Louise Mclean can suggest there are 50 facts that validate homeopathy (2). These facts were presented as an attempt to counter criticism that homeopathy is only water with no therapeutic effects.

Lets evaluate each fact. There are two parts to the evaluations: whether the fact is true and what, if any, logical fallacy is being used. Deciding on which logical fallacy is being used is not my strong point, feel free to correct me in the comments, and I will add to the text later.(more…)